To Aspartame Advocates

When I'm thirsty I usually drink either sparkling water or lager. Those quench my thirst best. But I drink during the day quite enough, so my thirst is not always just a sign of dehydration. Normal water won't quench thirst that is not caused by dehydration. At least not for me. So I drink anything but plain water as that I need to drink so much I feel bloated - and I'm still a bit thirsty. Thus I drink mainly juices. I love this juice, Appelsientje Dubbel Drank - Mango & Guanabana. But it was out of stock in our supermarket.

I found another nice brand, Maaza. Mango, guava - red and yellow, tropical, what have you. I took mango, without thinking too much. Now, normally I read the ingredients of all products I buy. But those you already know, you don't need to. (And I hate the fact that I need to look at the ingredients because of all the weird stuff you add in our food.) Most of these juices are from 100% concentrate + water. So I picked up the mango drink, got home, poured a glass and took a sip.

Yuch! Aspartame!

Instinctively I took the carton and checked the ingredients, although I knew them already by now. Yes, aspartame. Why? The fruit itself tastes great. Why extra sweeteners that aren't even that sweet. Aspartame tastes gross at the back of your throat. I know there's controversial information about the health risk of aspartame. But they are for and against the possible risks. (Some crazier than other.) I'm not afraid of aspartame; my biggest problem with it is the taste. It just tastes disgusting. It is useless sweetener. The whole idea of light-drinks is crazy. A person who buys light-drinks shouldn't drink soda in the first place.

Stop hiding aspartame in our drinks. Sure, light drinks. That's why I don't even bother taking a light-drink can/carton/bottle in my hand - I know they contain aspartame. That's the only artificial sweetener you drink manufacturers know anyways. But if you put that in non-light drinks mark it clearly on the front and don't hide it next to normal juices. It's place is next to light-drinks. If you do juice out of concentrate and pulp, it already has sugar from the fruit. Why add more sweeteners? And why, oh why aspartame?

What surprises me is how "blind" people are for taste. Doesn't anyone else taste that weird bitter taste at the back of the throat after drinking anything with aspartame? I guess if you drink it every day, you won't notice the taste. I wonder how addictive it is? Come to think of it. All of my friends who drink light-sodas are light-soda freaks. They drink a can after a can of it. Hm... maybe it invokes some compulsive drinking?

Still I don't get adding extra sweeteners to perfectly good juice. Kinda same with tobacco. I have smoked rolling tobacco longer than those ready made cigarettes. The ready mades are dry and very rough on your throat. So I smoke rolling tobacco. When I found American Spirit (Santa Fe Tobacco Company) I fell in love with the taste. Then I learned it contains no additives. Is this what tobacco is supposed to taste like? And all this time I was smoking tobacco with additives without knowing the real thing tastes so much better. Smoking kills, yes, so why not go for the one that tastes best if you're not gonna stop? Why the additives in tobacco? And why American Spirit is the most expensive rolling tobacco in shop? Is it something like: "Pay us more, or else we'll put additives in your tobacco!" The additives must cost money, and putting the stuff on costs money. Howcome that tobacco is still cheaper? I feel like in a weird Batman movie. A crazy supervillain is pouring chemicals on all of Gotham City's tobacco, unless all the citizens are willing to pay extra!

I get the additives in a lot of products that you ship all around the world so they have to keep. Concervatives, yes, ok. But aspartame is not a concervative. It's useless. Makes everything taste bad. And tobacco doesn't really need concervatives either.

Just please stop adding aspartame to everything. Or at least label all products clearly that they are those ligh-products.